ptsd Desert Storm Vet Needs Help With Claim Process

[TANKERJOE0]

HELLO ALL.I AM A USMC DESERT STORM VET.MY MOS WAS 1811 TANK CREWMAN.

I HAVE BEEN SUFFERING FROM NUMEROUS AILMENTS SINCE THE WAR.

I AM IN THE COMPENSATION PROCESS NOW FOR A DISABILITY RATING.

I HAVE MY FIRST EVER C@P EXAMS ON JAN 15, 2009 IN GAINSVILLE FLORIDA.

I AM IN NEED OF SOME HELP AND INFO ON HOW TO PROCEED WITH THE EXAMS.I HAVE AN EXAM FOR PTSD.I HAVE AN EXAM FOR HEARING LOSS AND TINNITUS.ALSO FOR A WHOLE BUNCH OF SYMPTOMS RELATING TO DESERT STORM SYNDROME.

I HAVE BEEN GOING TO THE LOCAL VA OUT-PAITENT CLININC IN JAX,FL FOR THE LAST 6 MONTHS. BEING SEEN FOR ALL OF MY SYMPTOMS.I FILED FOR DISABILITY ABOUT THE SAME TIME.MY DR AT THE OUT-PAITENT CLINIC HAS DIAGNOSED ME WITH PTSD. I HAVE BEEN ON NUMEROUS ANTI DEPRESSANTS AND ANXIETY MEDICINE FOR THE LAST 17 YRS.I AM CURRENTLY SEEING A PSYCHIATRIS AND PSYSICOLOGIS AT THE OUT-PAITENT CLINIC.I WAS ALSO DIAGNOSED WITH A MINOR HEARING LOSS AND TINNITUS.HAVE BEEN PRESCRIBED PAIN MEDICATION FOR MY CHRONIC DIBILATATING PAIN FROM THE OUT-PAITENT CLINIC AS WELL.ANY HELP AND TIPS ON WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE C@P EXAMS WOULD BE GREATLT APPRECIATED.THANKS TO ALL

SEMPER FI!!

TANKERJOE0

[TANKERJOE0]

JOHN WE DONT GET ANY SPECIAL BADGE FOR BEING A TANKER.I DO HAVE A COMBAT ACTION RIBBON W/STAR.

THANK YOU BERTA FOR YOUR INPUT.EVERYONE HAS BEEN SO HELPFUL ON HERE.I HOPE ONCE I AM DONE WITH THE WHOLE PROCESS I CAN BE OF HELP TO SOME OTHER VETS????

BERTA I HAVE SUBMITTED 4 DIFFERENT BUDDY STATEMENTS TO THE VA WITH MY INITAL CLAIM.UNFORTUNATELY BY MY MISTAKE I DIDNT COPY THEM FOR ME??? I COPIED ALL MEDICAL RECORDS AND TEST RESULTS FOR ME BUT NOT MY BUDDY STATEMENTS???? CAN THE DR DOING THE C&P EXAM PULL UP THE RECORDS ON HIS COMPUTER??? I HAVE UNTIL THE 15TH OF JAN TILL MY APPTS.IF ANYONE THINKS ITS VITAL TO MY CLAIMS PROCESS PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND ILL TRY TO GET MY FRIENDS TO REWRITE A STATEMENT FOR ME???

THANKS AGAIN

SEMPER FI!!!

TANKERJOE0

[Berta]

JOHN WE DONT GET ANY SPECIAL BADGE FOR BEING A TANKER.I DO HAVE A COMBAT ACTION RIBBON W/STAR.

THANK YOU BERTA FOR YOUR INPUT.EVERYONE HAS BEEN SO HELPFUL ON HERE.I HOPE ONCE I AM DONE WITH THE WHOLE PROCESS I CAN BE OF HELP TO SOME OTHER VETS????

BERTA I HAVE SUBMITTED 4 DIFFERENT BUDDY STATEMENTS TO THE VA WITH MY INITAL CLAIM.UNFORTUNATELY BY MY MISTAKE I DIDNT COPY THEM FOR ME??? I COPIED ALL MEDICAL RECORDS AND TEST RESULTS FOR ME BUT NOT MY BUDDY STATEMENTS???? CAN THE DR DOING THE C&P EXAM PULL UP THE RECORDS ON HIS COMPUTER??? I HAVE UNTIL THE 15TH OF JAN TILL MY APPTS.IF ANYONE THINKS ITS VITAL TO MY CLAIMS PROCESS PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND ILL TRY TO GET MY FRIENDS TO REWRITE A STATEMENT FOR ME???

THANKS AGAIN

SEMPER FI!!!

TANKERJOE0

With the CAR with Star ( Bronze denoting battle I assume ?) , that might well sure be proof enough of stressors but-do you have proof of mailing the buddy statements?

It pays to have either certified green cards or priority tracking slips for Every single thing we send to the VA.

If I were you I would use the Iris inquiry thing at

http://www.va.gov/index.htm

Click on the Benefits thing on the left, then click on COmp and Pension and then on the Contact Us area.

The form will take you step by step to reach your VARO and ask them to verify their receipt of these critical documents.Their reply might take a few days and they will send you an email link to access their reply.

If they do verify their receipt of these buddy statements- print and save that Iris email reply-

If they dont -you need to either get there yourself- or give a vet rep from a Vet Org with close access to the RO you POA for their help-who can check your C file or you could request from VA a copy of your C file right away and see if the RO has them.

I dont know if you heard of the shredding fiasco at many ROs lately- who were shredding critical evidence documents-

They were even shredding death certificates and DD 214s if you can imagine that-

These buddy statements could be crucial-even though the CAR with Star should be enough.

I have suggestion to make- after over 20 years of dealing with VAola crapola-

get some manila folders and some blank labels and start making these folders for your DD 214, SMR copies if you have them, copies of any future buddy statements if needed (I hope you dont really have to worry about this at all)

and put into these folders any VCAA letters and anything else that you get from the VA.

One folder could be for the GSW comp criteria and for the blank C & P exams that you expect.

If you have spouse and children - a folder for marriage license and birth certificates is good idea too-

I have 2 filing cabinets and numerous plastic totes packed full of VA crap.I have been a claimant many times and these contain military stuff for my last two husbands.

I learned long ago never to throw away anything pertaining to VA claims.

I even used SOCs from past awards for my present claims.

I hate keeping all this stuff and even with everything meticulously labeled-it still gets messed up.

Still- I am glad I did save it all.

I assume you got a VCAA letter that told you what evidence VA needed- did you keep a copy of the VCAA election form?

I feel that when a vet responds to the VCAA election form- which asks if they want VA to go ahead and decide and they have no more evidence to send or if they elect that they do have mor evidence- that the vet should type right on the form (it can be scanned and saved as word doc to do this-one more way to have a good copy of what you sent them-)

that the claimant should list right on this form exactly what evidence the VA should have - on which the claim should be decided.

You could call 1-800-827-1000 but I dont know if the buddy statements would appear as received on the VA computers that their phone people read.

And they can say anything on the phone- I use Iris -the Contact Us thing at the VA web site so I have dated hard copy documented proof of how they respond to me.

Edited December 28, 2008 by Berta

[timetowinarace]

For Gulf War Illness, those issues have to be undiagnosed conditions. There must be evidence that you have the condition, such as your chronic pain, but no diagnoses as to why you have chronic pain. GWI is not a ratable condition. Undiagnosed conditions, or conditions that have no known cause, are ratable by presumption under GWS guidelines. In other words, be wary of examiners that diagnose "joint pain" as arthritus(sp) wich is not ratable as a presumptive illness rather than as "unknown eteiology"(sp agian, having one of those no spelling days) Misdiagnoses has been hurting GW Vet claims since the beginning.

Even though last month the government finally made it official that GWI is a "real" disease, it will be years before this information and the research to come will trickle down to the VA as an official ratable condition.

[TANKERJOE0]

THANKS AGAIN BERTA FOR ALL YOUR HELP.IM TRYING TO GO INTO THIS WITHOUT GETTING SCREWED.BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE THE NORM WITH THE VA??? I WILL DO MY BEST AND TAKE IT FROM THERE.

THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT TIMETOWINARACE.

SEMPER FI

TANKERJOE0

[bob_abad]

Tanker,

Just an FYI..If you have this constant ringing noise or like a continuous cricket sound especially at nights or, you might have tinnitus. Check it out @google search => "tinnitus+gulf war". You are entitled for additional 10% rating.

You are receiving very valuable advice in this forum. Totally agree w/ Berta about lining up/organizing all your docs in place. Folders, filing area, etc..It is considerably time saving especially for your upcoming Reopen Claims...

Good luck!

[john999]

I believe if you have combat action ribbon the VA must accept your stressor letter if it is all plausable. If you say it happened they should presume it did happen since you have combat medal. However, I would still do as Berta says. What is really hard is for the truck driver who gets shot at or sees horrible sights and has no combat awards. He is stuck trying to verify the stressor. I don't believe you have that problem.